It has been a very long time since I last posted in my beloved ESL forums. I'm Arale from Vietnam - a former Moderator of ESL forums. Right now, I can feel something very special from the bottom of my heart when I'm posting this entry in the familiar forums. Today I return to the forums to share some tips of learning English of my own in EC forums with you.

I still remember the day I sent an email to Mr Josef - EC creator to ask (actually force ) him if I could be a Moderator of EC forums when I was a student. At that time, my English wasn't very good but I thought that being a Moderator would help me more confident and more careful with my writing. I also tried to improve my English via reading and following the writing-style of some native speakers in the forums. I don't remember all the user-names of such friends but I learnt a lot from Danyet, Lenny... and also Mr Josef. In addition, there are lots of friends who are not native speakers but their English is wonderful like Dixie, Pirate, Unknownsu, Admiral and many others. I would like to send my special gratefulness to teacher Alan from Japan, also. His Help Desk really supported me a lot with my grammar. I really preferred his concise replies that I could hardly find in a grammar book.

I also want to share with you one of my tips to quickly improve my English, which is interest. No one can force you do what you don't want and that's so true with my case of self-studying English. I didn't like the topics I was forced to write at my university but I extremely loved the topics of my own in the forums. In EC forumss, I could write anything I was interested in like short-stories, poems, or just general discussion... When I could compose a very well-structured entry here, I felt much easier to start with more difficult topics at my university. One thing I discovered that when my writing has been improved, my speaking has also been improved naturally. In fact, at that time, when I firstly got mark 8 for speaking at university, I was really surprised with the impact and effect of the writing skill. (You know, my university is a foreign language one so it's very strict to get mark 8 for English skills). From then on, I always got at least mark 8 for writing and speaking at university. (I joined English Club at 3rd year of university - I wish I knew it earlier). Then I understood that, writing helped me enrich my vocabulary and use grammar correctly while I only could speak English well if I had enough vocabulary and knew how to use them appropriately. And these two factors also motivated my reading skill.

My listening has been improved lately when I've had a chance to work with some foreigners. My other skills of English have also much improved now but the background of basic English skills I gained from English Club, and my time at university, was really precious.

I'm also very happy to inform you that I've been rewarded the full fellowship funded by Ford Foundation in the US. Now I have a great chance to study Master on community development in the States for 2 years. You can imagine how happy I was when I succeeded with my English interview and TOEFL exam - I haven't been informed my score yet but I did it very well. (I was also successful with my Vietnamese interview).

I hope some above English learning tips of my own can be useful for you somehow. I hereby also would express my great thanks to Mr Josef for creating this EC for learners worldwide. Apart from English improvement, thank to EC, I've met a lot of good friends from my country and all over the world in EC forums and chat rooms. Some of them are very close with me now and I hope I will meet them in the States.

Finally, I would like to tell my friends in EC forums that thank you all for creating such a great online English environment. I really miss you very much.

With my warmest regards,

Arale.

Last edited by Arale on Sun Jul 04, 2010 7:19 am, edited 3 times in total.

Let me be the first (in this thread) to congratulate you, both on the great progress you made in English and on gaining the Ford Foundation scholarship. And thank you too for your help and input in these forums over all those years.

My friends, if you have time, you should read my following blog post on My English Club:

http://my.englishclub.com/profiles/blog ... on-english

with the same topic posted on this forum - General Discussion. However, you will see some slight differences in word choices, grammar and also spelling. (I couldn't edit my posts here any more since I've used my 3 limit times of editing).

My another tip: DON'T BE AFRAID OF MISTAKES when learning English. Everyone, even native speakers, makes mistakes. The important thing is you KNOW your mistakes and KNOW HOW to correct them (trying to read thorough your writing after you finish it). And from my own opinion, trying to perfect your writing with your best ability is a way to show your respect to your readers. Good luck, my friends!

I saw your announcement in EC Newsletter, so here I am to give you my congratulations(again ). CONGRATULATIONS! I know you can do it. You and Pirate are two super smart people among all the smart people I know. I have no doubt in you two. She did it now it's your turn.

MissLT wrote:I saw your announcement in EC Newsletter, so here I am to give you my congratulations(again ). CONGRATULATIONS! I know you can do it. You and Pirate are two super smart people among all the smart people I know. I have no doubt in you two. She did it now it's your turn.

Dear Lenny: Thanks a lot for your message. Really hope to see you and Pirate in America!

I was really surprised with the impact and effect of the writing skill. (You know, my university is a foreign language one so it's very strict to get mark 8 for English skills). From then on, I always got at least mark 8 for writing and speaking at university. (I joined English Club at 3rd year of university - I wish I knew it earlier). Then I understood that, writing helped me enrich my vocabulary and use grammar correctly while I only could speak English well if I had enough vocabulary and knew how to use them appropriately. And these two factors also motivated my reading skill.

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Hi Lenny, thank you. I have been quite busy with my pre-academic training and application forms to the selected universities. Just want to share with you that, I have four choices of universities including Clark University in Massachusetts, United States, Manoa University in Hawaii, ISS University in the Netherlands and AIT University in Thailand. My first choice is Clark because it is really suitable with my study objectives. By the way, where do you live in the States?

Hi dear!! I'm glad you're back and Of course about the great news you have just brought to us!!! ( I'm back, too! I had even forgotten my password ! Shhh, don't tell :) )

Firs of all, I hope you still remember me

As for me, I still remember those golden days we used to talk to each other! Wow, I remember it was just every single day we used to post through the different forums we've got on here...

Oh! there was a period of EC ( 2006?) when we had a really big "fight" between Religion and Politics issues, remember that? Sir Josef had to post the NEW rules before writing something down. It was one of those moments you just can remember and say " Time goes by quickly... times change, but we're still here"...

On the other hand....

I haven't had the opportunity to get a scholarship or traveling abroad YET , but I'm also having a good time , so far!!

Oh, thanks a lot, dear Oriani and welcome back to EC forums. It is nice to hear from you as well. Where have you been? Yep. I do remember those golden days on ESL forums with a number of interesting fightings on politics and religion. LOL. I can't help laughing when you reminded me about them. I really hoped some friends wouldn't hate me any more for locking their posts. I just wonder how the other famous member on ESL forums (like Unknownsu, Danyet, Monster, Mr_Love, Shokin...) are now. God bless them. You are right, my friend. Years go by quickly but we are still here. By the way, I see that you are now a teacher of English, aren't you? That is a great job. Good luck to your career.

Arale.

Oriani wrote:Hi dear!! I'm glad you're back and Of course about the great news you have just brought to us!!! ( I'm back, too! I had even forgotten my password ! Shhh, don't tell :) )

Firs of all, I hope you still remember me

As for me, I still remember those golden days we used to talk to each other! Wow, I remember it was just every single day we used to post through the different forums we've got on here...

Oh! there was a period of EC ( 2006?) when we had a really big "fight" between Religion and Politics issues, remember that? Sir Josef had to post the NEW rules before writing something down. It was one of those moments you just can remember and say " Time goes by quickly... times change, but we're still here"...

On the other hand....

I haven't had the opportunity to get a scholarship or traveling abroad YET , but I'm also having a good time , so far!!

Oh Mr Love : I was talking to him a few minutes ago through Facebook... !! I usually keep in touch with Dixie, Patrick, Mr. Love, Mal ( Illusions), and dear Elba :)

I don't know If you remember when I first came to EC; I was asking for help becasue I had started my college as an English teacher trainee.. remember? 5 years ago..! I'm already graduated.. I just received my diploma last July! :) However, I'm totally devoted to my music.. I play the Violin and I wouldn't change that at all, LOL!!!!

Thanks for your supporting words!!! You're so sweet... Oh, by the way, do not get lost again, OK???? ( that's for me, too)

PS: I've been here but I had forgotten my password and I didn't remember which e-mail address I associated it to:oops: ...

Maybe I'm one of the newst member of MyEC, but it doesn't mean I have no memorable time in EC, of course. I signed in 6 hours ago, though I'd been tried to be a member for a week. I tried many times, but my account application was didn't pended. Then, I sent a private message to Mr Josef, told him the problem. And now I'm writing post as a member like you all. And for this, I thank to Mr Josef.

hi arale.. you're great!! congrats for your achievements. you are great am new in this forum . and have a chance to read your entry. maybe you don't know me yet . But you absolutely inspire me . :] hope we be friends too.. :]] and learn more english tips on you.. :] pursue you crop.. :] GOD BLESS:]

Dear Arale,
First, congratulations you.
I have just became a member of this forum, I read your post and let me thank you very much for your share. I come from Vietnam also. I am trying to improve my English skills. I hope you can help me to do this.

First of all, congratulations for reaching your goals.
I'm also from Vietnam & I'm new member here. Thank you for great sharing!
Be successful & hope you have time to share more. I love to learn with you & others here.

Elham wrote:What are moderators of a forum supposed to do? What do they do exactly?

Hi Elham,
Forum moderators do the same as the police does in a civilized society. They patrol streets, help people to find a way, prevent law breaks. Warn a disobidient. Punish, if it needs.
We are too motley public. And we are imperfect either. Is it fair to leave us in a lurch?

Elham wrote:What are moderators of a forum supposed to do? What do they do exactly?

Hi Elham,
Forum moderators do the same as the police does in a civilized society. They patrol streets, help people to find a way, prevent law breaks. Warn a disobidient. Punish, if it needs.
We are too motley public. And we are imperfect either. Is it fair to leave us in a lurch?

Look at the date of the post Oriani - that's a history. In the beginning of July I haven't learnt yet the function of a secret User Control Panel button, which is designed for managing profile, and so I was not be able to fix my beloved picture of a cat.

i am Ashraf, first of all i thought myself very good in English language, my mother tongue language is Arabic, but i love english very much i hope to improve it as well as i hope, in the past i was started to read some stories and encyclopedias, and listening to foreigners songs and i felt i was improving myself well, but one day when i was chatting with some one from England i found it too difficult to communicate with him and i felt shy, i don't know what i have to say, but i hope that i can improve my skills with you if you don't mind, even if i found someone to chat with me :(, it would be convenient to me:) thanks.

There are bad and good memories associated with English club. For me both of them happened in English club chat room. When I joined the chat room for the first time, I saw there were some people from my country Iran and some people from other countries. There were chatting, but the topics were about politics and religions. Islam and Iran were both under bombardment of the chatters. Even some Iranian people were bombarding Iran's government and Islam! I decided to defend myself and my religion. I did it successfully.

Little by little, because of jealousy maybe, some Iranian people(most of them were females) started to fight with me. They were old members of the chat room. They had many friends and supporters. Specially, many men were always there to support them. They started fighting with me while I was alone. However, I could make friends with some people who were against them. Finally, we could manage to stop them from impoliteness and insulting. We won!

Well, I knew that I had to pay the price of that success. Some Iranian females started to spread rumors about me. They spread negative things about me. Meanwhile, my close friend who was very powerful in the chat room left the room. I became helpless. In addition, one of the men who was always against me in order to please those females became moderator. You can guess what happened. I got banned. This was a sad memory which is memorable all the time.

About sweet memories, I can say meeting friends from different countries with different cultures was always sweet. I am in contact with some of them. I am happy about it.